Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an inkjet type recording device.
Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-184149 discloses a technique for use in a recording device that fills a recording head with ink through a channel, such as a tube. This technique blocks the channel by using a blocking unit, making the inside of the channel have a predetermined negative pressure by using a suction unit, and then opening the channel to fill the recording head with the ink.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-358846 discloses a technique of adjusting timing at which a discharge recovery unit is activated in accordance with a detected image recording amount to improve an ink discharge state of the recording head.
However, it is found that in the configuration described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-184149, when substantially the same suction operation is performed in an area with a high outside atmospheric pressure (for example, low altitude area) and in an area with a low outside atmospheric pressure (for example, high altitude area), the amount of ink filling in the area with the low outside atmospheric pressure is smaller. This is because in the area with the low outside atmospheric pressure, a pressure difference between a negative pressure inside the channel and recording head and the outside atmospheric pressure during the ink filling operation is small and the amount of ink that can be supplied to the recording head through the channel decreases. Accordingly, in the area with the low outside atmospheric pressure, when the recording head is filled with ink by a suction operation based on the assumption that the atmospheric pressure is normal, the recording head is not sufficiently filled with the ink and the amount of air inside the recording head is larger than expected. When air bubbles generated from the ink during the recording are accumulated in ink discharge ports, liquid path communicating therewith, or liquid chamber, ink non-discharge may occur at an early stage. One approach to this problem is setting the amount of ink sucked during ink filling at a rather large quantity in any pressure environment to achieve a sufficient amount of ink filling even in an area with a low outside atmospheric pressure. In this case, however, consumption of ink unnecessarily increases in an area with a high outside atmospheric pressure.
A similar problem may arise in the configuration described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-358846. Specifically, in an area with a low outside atmospheric pressure, because the amount of air inside the recording head is larger than expected, air bubbles generated from the ink during the recording are larger than expected. This may cause ink non-discharge before a next recovery processing operation (suction operation). One approach to this problem is making timing at which a recovery processing operation is performed earlier in any atmospheric pressure environment to prevent the occurrence of ink non-discharge. In this case, however, in an area with a high outside atmospheric pressure, the recovery processing operation is performed in a state where a sufficient amount of ink still remains in the recording head and this results in an unnecessarily increased consumption of ink.